


"Do You Remember The Time . . ."

by DixieDale



Category: Garrison's Gorillas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 09:44:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15483000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixieDale/pseuds/DixieDale
Summary: Back from a successful mission, the guys overindulge and start a merry little round of 'Do you remember the time . . .?' that is more memorable than most.  It was purely in self-defence that Craig Garrison told the guys about his Uncle Jake and learning the art of the con.  It seemed a small price to pay to shut them up with all the stories about HIM and those things he just didn't remember!  Things he was probably better off NOT remembering!





	"Do You Remember The Time . . ."

**Author's Note:**

> No explosions, no bullets flying, no severe angst - just five guys, some beer and a bottle of booze, and some memories. Okay, so maybe a couple of dropped jaws and some red faces, but no explosions.

It was Wednesday night, hardly anyone in the pub when Garrison's team had arrived, and those few that were there had finished their drinks and left soon after. The big corner table was getting louder, but still all good-humored by the time the Lieutenant himself arrived. It was late, and Jake decided he might as well get some work done, so went ahead and put up the Closed sign and locked the front door.

"I'll be down in the storeroom, Lieutenant, checking inventory. Try not to break up the place, okay?" he joked, remembering that one bar fight that Garrison had joined in, {"just like a regular guy!"}. (Story - "Just A Quiet Friday Night at the Pub") "Just give me a yell if you're ready to leave before I get back up, so I can lock up after you."

He knew Garrison would keep track if they pulled more beer or got another bottle; he wasn't worried about the table tab, Garrison would see to that too. And with Garrison there, he figured the Lieutenant would pour them into their jeep and see they got back to the Mansion in one piece.

The guys were laid back and mellow after one hell of a mission, celebrating not just their success but the remarkable fact that no one had gotten anything more than a few bruises. (Of course, they were also celebrating adding a tidy little bit to those Swiss accounts, but they figured Garrison didn't need to know that!). They had already gone through a pitcher or two, and were now working their way through that 'whatever is in there' bottle Jake brought them. Garrison was leaning back in his chair, smiling, amused, his arriving so late meant he wasn't nearly as 'loose' as they were, not that he usually let himself go there anyway, especially since he could tell he'd be the one behind the wheel on the way back to the Mansion. Even Chief had a slight smile on his face while his eyes showed the effect of the liquor.

Now Garrison just sat back as the guys did some story telling, usually starting with, "hey, remember the time . . ." He knew from experience he could learn a lot from these little episodes. Of course, sometimes that was good, sometimes not, he recalled ruefully. Sometimes he learned more than he wanted to, just like that time when Goniff wouldn't stop talking and he heard all those stories that he just couldn't 'unhear', no matter how much he tried! (Story - 'Goniff, Please! Just Shut Up!'). Still, he smiled to himself with a great deal of satisfaction. In the early days, they'd never have done this with him around, wouldn't have given out so much information about themselves, each other, not in front of Lieutenant Craig Garrison, their 'Warden'. That said a lot about how they viewed him now. Of course, that he was sitting here enjoying their company said a lot about how he viewed them now as well.

They'd pretty much poked that sly stick of conversation at everyone at the table, including a few stories that they probably would have avoided if Meghada had been there. Not that she was missish; she wasn't, not in the least, but some of those stories really . . .

But then it seems they figured it was HIS turn, which was something that had only started recently, and he braced himself for his turn at being poked at. Some of the stories were funny, some not. He could identify the events, was getting some new insights to the events, seeing it from their viewpoint. The recounting of the time he'd lost his temper and got involved in that bar brawl got a rueful nod of remembrance.

There was that puzzling bit about "that family you imagined helped us on that job when you had the malaria attack. You know, with that 'woman who cooked so great', and all those 'smart as a whip blond and redheaded kids'; described em all so good, if we didn't KNOW that place was empty, had been for a hell of a long time, woulda believed it for sure." (Story - 'Fevered Dreams'). That came from Chief, surprisingly. Garrison took that in stride, though for some reason it seemed to make Goniff shift his interest from the conversation to his drink and the surface of the table awfully quick, even flushing a little.

Yes, Garrison took it all in stride, til Casino started, "yeah, the malaria really does a number on ya, Warden! Hey guys, remember the Warden and all that 'light as a feather' business on the plane, when he took those malaria pills when we were gonna do that training jump? When Goniff passed out? Sheesh! The sappy look on the Warden's face, sittin there with Goniff all curled up in his lap, pettin the little Limey like he was a stray pup or something! Remember? 'Pretty little thing. Just liiight as a feather!'" Casino roared, even Chief and Actor were laughing, proof positive that FAR too much liquor had gone down their throats.

Goniff wasn't laughing; he was sitting there with wide eyes, mouth hanging open, in pure shock; he remembered passing out from hyperventilating, but they'd never told him any of this!!

Garrison just stared, his own state of shock not any less, maybe more than Goniff's. {"When I did WHAT???!"} (Story - 'I Told You I'm FINE, Damn It!'). 

Then Casino proceeded to ask, "and I been meanin to ask about that Uncle Jake a yers. He where you learned the Dumb John con and all that other shit?"

"Uncle Jake? How . . .?"

Garrison knew damned well he'd never told the guys about the official black sheep of the family! And Casino proceeded to tell him just HOW he knew about Garrison's Uncle Jake, and Garrison was stunned. (Story - 'In Search of Perfection'). He wondered just how much else he'd let slip during his many injuries.

And while he wasn't sure he was all that eager to share about Uncle Jake, it HAD to be better than addressing that 'light as a feather' episode, especially seeing the still stunned look on Goniff's face, feeling the heated flush on his own face!

 

****

Garrison took a sip from his glass and let a slow grin come to his face. Shaking his head, he gave a little hmmph of amusement.

"Uncle Jake. My mother's much younger brother and the black sheep of the family. I remember hearing my parents discuss him a couple of times when I was a little kid, though they'd stop when they realized I was within earshot; he'd have been in his early, mid twenties when I was born. I always figured he'd died, though, since I never heard his name mentioned after that, and when I asked, my mother just got all upset and told me she didn't want to talk about it." He made that sound again, and now they realized there was more than a little bitterness mixed with that amusement.

"I was in college, application being reviewed for West Point, when this guy came up to me, introduced himself, asked if I wanted to have a cup of coffee with him."

"Uncle Jake?" Actor asked.

"Uncle Jake. Not dead, in fact very much alive. We talked, a lot. He showed me a picture of his wife; grinned all over himself, "my Lucia; beautiful, isn't she?" And she was that, a real beauty. I had to get to a class, he gave me his phone number at the place he was staying while he was in town.

I still don't know who told my parents Uncle Jake had come around, but I got a call demanding my immediate presence and got my head handed to me. AND I don't know why my father actually explained what Uncle Jake had done to make him an outcast; my father didn't make a habit of explaining himself to anyone."

Garrison grinned around at the guys, "it's funny, in a way. Seems in the last war, Uncle Jake did a lot of what we're doing now, going behind enemy lines, posing as someone else, bringing back information, doing some damage here and there."

"He was, what? An agent, a spy, a saboteur?" Actor asked.

"From what I heard, a little of all of that. Anyway, to my parents, that was disgraceful; serving in the military was one thing, THAT was honorable, but spying? Ah, no! Anyway, that's where he met his Lucia, on a mission. They'd ended up in the same place, same time, and he'd gotten wounded and couldn't make it back to his exit point; she dragged him back home with her, more than a little annoyed at having to do so, to hear him tell it. When they got married, they let the folks know and my parents were furious, since my father had found out a little about her and her family. Her family wasn't too happy about it either, though they got over it; Uncle Jake looks at them as more his family than our side, that's for sure."

Garrison grinned at Actor, "you probably know them; I know you've at least heard of one of them. Meghada knows them too, mentioned it at that fiasco at the mansion with Julie Richards and her society friends, (Story - 'A Flash in the Pan') but I've never mentioned my connection. Lucia's family name is Lucien; her sister is . . ." watching the tall Italian's face as the penny dropped. It was priceless, watching those dark brown eyes widen in shock.

"Gabrielle Lucien??? But, I've met Lucia's husband; his name isn't Garrison, and he does not resemble you in the least!"

"He goes by his mother's maiden name - Travers - and he takes after his grandfather on that side. I take after my father's side of the family."

A slow exchange of knowing looks passed around the table. "So it really does run in the family!" Casino exclaimed, and the guys laughed. 

"Anyway, my dressing down by my father had the exact opposite effect to what he'd wanted. I called Uncle Jake, told him what happened, but that I thought it was great, what he did! We got together a few times, more carefully though, and the more stories he told, the more he showed me, all the different accents, then some with the disguises, the more fascinated I was, told him I wished I knew all that!

The subject came up later, when he was headed back overseas, asked me if I was serious, if I was willing to run a 'con' on the family in order to learn more. Obviously my parents were right in thinking Uncle Jake would be a bad influence on me, because I didn't even hesitate, just said 'hell, yes"!" That got a loud laugh from everyone.

"Later, he fixed it so I got an 'invitation' to take a special all-summer course; it was in England, and my parents were pleased, well, as pleased as they ever got, since it was supposedly some big honor, and only one student selected from the States. One of these days I'll have to ask Meghada when she studied with Gabrielle!"

Goniff spoke up, "told me she was ten; spent six months with 'er and the family, this Gabrielle did; taught 'er and a few of the others."

Garrison shook his head at the idea, "ten! Then it was well before my visit, which was NOT in England, of course. Luckily my parents weren't expecting to hear from me, had been told by the 'official' letter I showed them that the course was so intense and time-consuming that personal frivolities, like letter writing, was discouraged. They never even blinked; my father even voiced his approval, told me it was just what I needed to help me 'focus'." That wide grin, one they'd only started seeing recently, came back. "Well, he was right about that!" 

He rambled on for awhile, telling stories of that summer, what he'd learned.

"Do you still stay in touch?" Actor asked with interest.

"Some, when we can. There's a link in London we use. Heard from him not too long ago, all excited. Wanted to tell me I'm an uncle, or maybe it's really a cousin, but we agreed on 'uncle' as my role; they just adopted a kid." Garrison held out his hand indicating someone a couple of feet taller than the round table they were sitting at. "He and Lucia never had kids though they'd wanted them. A friend of theirs brought this one to their attention as someone she thought would be a good match for them. Says he can't wait to have me meet him."

"A boy, then," Chief nodded.

"Yeah, English, about ten or eleven, blond hair, blue eyes. And don't ask me why, they've saddled him with the family name - I mean, both sides. 'Samuel Craig Garrison Lucien Travers'. Isn't that a mouthful?! Name's bigger than HE is!"

Conversation ended as they had to rescue Goniff who had somehow managed to get strangled over his drink and had one hell of a time getting his breath back. (Story - 'Nothing But The Truth (Well, More or Less)')

That pretty much ended the stories and the drinking; Garrison paid the bill, poured everyone into his jeep and headed out for the Mansion. The rest of the guys were still laughing and joking, all except for Goniff, who'd hardly said a word since his coughing fit. Still, Garrison thought he was enjoying listening to the banter; their resident pickpocket sure did have a wide grin on his face, though Garrison wasn't sure if there was more amusement in that smile, or satisfaction; maybe a good mixture of both. With Goniff, sometimes it was just hard to tell what was going through his mind. Sometimes Garrison thought it just might be best that way.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Marvelmyra for suggesting the character of Garrison's black sheep uncle - 'Uncle Jake'.


End file.
